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Tag: "subscriptions"

Publishers Call Apple’s NewsStand a Success So Far

By Jillian | October 20, 2011 | No comment yet

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newsstand

When Apple announced the Newsstand feature in iOS 5 my interpretation of the universal reaction was ‘oh yeah…’. I think most of us agreed that the concept was really pretty fantastic: all of our subscription-based publications brought together in a single location and updated automatically as new issues are available. But a lot of us who have embraced the fine art of digital subscriptions already have apps we like or routines we follow and I am not sure we realized just how handy it would end up becoming.

New Condé Nast Digital Magazine Subscriptions Nets 250,000 Customers

By Jillian | August 2, 2011 | No comment yet

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Conde Nast

Last May, Condé Nast began offering subscriptions through Apple’s App Store. While some may have questioned this move, including digital-resistant competitor Werner Media, news that they have grown by nearly a quarter million customers suggests it was no mistake.

Apple Removes all Price Guidelines on In-App Subscriptions

By Jillian | June 9, 2011 | No comment yet

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A few weeks short of the June 30 compliance deadline, Apple appears to have changed their guidelines on in-app subscription prices which is to say they no longer have them at all.

These guidelines would have forced existing apps such as those provided by Netflix and Amazon to offer an in-app purchasing system that would give a 30% cut to Apple. These apps would have been free to maintain their existing purchase models “provided that the same content is also offered in the app using in-app purchases at the same price or less than it is offered outside the app.”

Conde Nast Starts to Offer Subscriptions with The New Yorker

By dag | May 9, 2011 | No comment yet

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Conde Nast, the publisher behind magazines such as Vogue, Wired, Glamour, GQ and Vanity Fair, was the last major publisher to jump on the iTunes subscriptions bandwagon, as the other three giants – News Corp., Time Inc. and Hearst – signed up for the service soon after Apple made it available.

As of today, Conde Nast finally agreed to Apple’s terms, and is about to release new versions of its magazines compatible with subscriptions. As noted by AllThingsD, The New Yorker is the first Conde Nast publication to leverage the service, via its May 16, 2011 issue, released earlier today.

Conde Nast Slowing Down Introduction of Magazine Apps

By Cristi | April 22, 2011 | 1 comment

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Conde Nast jumped on the iPad bandwagon shortly after it was announced last year and quickly announced its plans for Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Glamour. Prepared to offer digital editions of its popular magazines and take advantage of the iPad’s multimedia features, Conde Nast introduced a number of titles to the App Store the first few months the iPad was available. Despite the best laid plans, things have not gone as well as expected, leading Conde to revise its market strategy.

According to a report on AdAge, Conde Nast plans to slow down the introduction of new titles, pushing many of them into the third or fourth quarter of this year or even early 2012. One of Conde’s publishers says the company still plans to release its magazines on the iPad, but now do it more slowly.

Financial Times Hoping to Avoid iTunes Subscription Rule

By Roberto | April 4, 2011 | No comment yet

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Apple’s controversial iTunes subscription model has been running for several weeks now, however several publishers have openly criticized the company for taking a large cut of their direct revenues with its new model.

The Financial Times is the latest major publisher to openly share its frustration with the new iTunes subscription rule.

The ﬁnancial paper has had a great relationship with Apple for years, but according to its managing director Rob Grimshaw, the company has considered looking for other distribution channels like Android or other platforms if revenue sharing negotiations don’t go well with Apple.

Google Planning Android Newsstand to Compete With iPad

By Roberto | January 3, 2011 | No comment yet

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According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Google is readying a newsstand for Android devices.

This move would be Google’s direct answer to the highly rumored plans from Apple to release a digital storefront that would let newspapers and magazines sell to consumers for use on the iPad. Apple’s digital newsstand has been categorized as a dedicated news app designed specifically for the iPad, and it would resemble the iBook store and would be separate from Apple’s App Store where consumers can buy some publications today.

iPad Magazine Sales Show Decline

By Bill | December 29, 2010 | 3 comments

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Apple’s iPad was warmly embraced by magazine publishers when it first launched back in April but recent statistics show iPad magazine downloads declining. Based on the latest report form the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), magazines that report digital downloads are showing a monthly decrease in digital sales.

Women’s Wear Daily reports that Vanity Fair, GQ, Men’s Health, Wired and Glamour all reported lower month-over-month sales in November. The 10-35% decline was not a one time event but a continuing trend since August according to ABC’s numbers.

People Magazines’s iPad App Free to Subscribers of Print Version

By Cristi | August 19, 2010 | No comment yet

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If you had a subscription for People magazine’s print version and also wanted the magazine’s app to browse on your iPad, you were simply out of luck, unless you paid an additional charge to download the app. According to Fortune, that all changed when the new issue of People was released today.

Even before the launch of the iPad, Steve Jobs encouraged magazine publishers to create apps for the new Apple device. Many publishers were prepared to make the magazine apps free for subscribers, but much to their dismay, things did not go exactly as planned. It has taken four and a half months for Time Inc. to receive Apple’s seal of approval.

This week’s release of People marks a shift in the tide and Time, Sports Illustrated and Fortune are expected to follow suit in the next 30 days. Not only is this change good for Time Inc.’s magazine lineup, but other magazine titles as well. We assume Apple will agree to the same conditions with other magazine publishers soon too.

This change is certainly a step in the right direction for publishers and will hopefully lead to additional concessions, like the ability to sell subscriptions through the App Store.

Image from Time Inc.

Apple and Publishers Clash over iPad Magazine Subscription Plans

By dag | July 28, 2010 | 2 comments

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Earlier today, All Things Digital revealed that for the last couple months, Time Inc. and Apple Inc. have been quietly battling over iPad magazine subscriptions. Time has been trying to roll-out a subscription program for its Sports Illustrated app, but so far Apple has prevented the New-York based company from moving forward with the program.

Unsurprisingly, the main reason for the disagreement seems to be money: Time is pushing for its readers to pay their subscriptions directly to the publishing company, while Apple wants the readers to pay via their iTunes accounts instead. When it comes to magazines, Apple’s position seems to be similar to the position it adopted with the music industry: iTunes should remain the sole delivery and payment mechanism when it comes to content for iOS-based devices, in order to secure a cut of the revenue for Apple.

Time has been trying to convince Apple to change its position, but so far the situation seems locked, and despite Time’s threats to simply remove its apps from the App Store, Apple hasn’t budged.

Interestingly enough, other publishers like The Wall Street Journal have been allowed to bill their readers directly for iPad subscriptions to their papers, something that makes Apple’s overall position quite ambiguous. For now, the company remains mute on the topic, but rumor has it that Apple does not want to deal with low margin newspaper subscriptions, and is a lot more interested in higher margin magazines subscriptions.